


B is for Bleeding

by taylor_tut



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood, Gen, Hurt Ruby, Hurt/Comfort, Kintsugi, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Whump, ruby whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 06:56:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13875552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taylor_tut/pseuds/taylor_tut
Summary: For my A-Z whump series--this time my characters from my original work in progress, The Kintsugi Girl. Ruby forms another crack, but the fear of having it filled with molten gold is enough to make her keep it to herself.





	B is for Bleeding

omgggg i love you!! sorry this took a bit. I hope you like it!! (This is also B for my A-Z whump series–Bleeding!!)

* * *

 

Ruby was broken out of her daydreaming by Kari’s gasp. “Hey, you’re bleeding!” she cried, and when Ruby looked down, she grimaced–she was rubbing tiny circles of blood into the sword she was holding instead of polishing it. 

“Oh oops,” she mumbled, grabbing the towel that Kari extended to her. “Must’ve cut myself on the blade.”

Kari frowned. “Are you sure it’s not another crack?” she asked skeptically. “It’s on the same hand…”

Ruby shook her head. “Nah, just nicked my skin a little.” She willed that to be true and pressed the towel even harder into her hand at the source of the blood, begging for it to stop flowing.  

“You’re going all pale,” Kari fretted. 

“So are you,” Ruby quipped back. 

“That’s just because I don’t like blood!” She swayed a tiny bit when she said it, indeed looking like she might faint. “I should get Leora,” she said, but Ruby stuck out her boot, not having any free hands to grab her by the wrist, and tripped her, sending her toppling to the floor. “Hey!”

“Sorry,” she admitted “But you don’t need to get Leora. I’m fine. Plus, you’d probably fall down the stairs anyway.” Kari nodded reluctantly because that was true–she hated that blood made her dizzy when she never had a choice but to see so much of it. “Sit down before you fall down.”

It’s not that Ruby was trying to spare Kari any worrying–she’d do that either way–or thought that Leora didn’t have time to come fill the crack–though that was probably true. 

Honestly, she just… needed a break. 

Having molten gold poured into your skin  _hurt_ , and you never quite got used to it. Quite the opposite, in fact. Where Ruby had, in the beginning, passed out from the pain and woken up well after it was over, she now remained conscious, if only just, through the entire excruciating procedure. 

They’d filled a crack two days ago, and three days before that, and a week before that. This one didn’t feel too deep, she told herself. Maybe it would just close on its own.

* * *

 

By the time they ate dinner, Ruby was sure it wasn’t just a minor cut. It was definitely a crack, and even if it wasn’t too big, it was leaking blood at an alarming rate, and it hadn’t stopped. 

“Ruby,” someone called, and she blearily looked up, trying to focus her hazy vision. 

“Hmm?” 

‘You’re not eating,” Leora noticed. “Is everything okay?”

Ruby nodded, but the movement made her even more nauseated than she already felt. 

“Is your hand still bothering you?” Kari asked, her eyes going wide. “Let me see your–oh!” 

The white towel she’d kept pressed against the fissure was nearly soaked through with blood, a fact she’d kept hidden under the table until Kari literally pried it out of her. 

“Ruby!” Leora scolded, “when did this happen? Why did Kari know about it and I didn’t?”

Ruby shook her head, but Leora didn’t have time to place blame and wait for an answer. Everything around her moved quickly, and the next time Ruby opened her eyes, she was sitting propped up against Kari with a piece of leather between her teeth. 

“Alright,” Leora warned, trying to sound lighthearted–bless her soul; she always tried–for Ruby’s sake, “you might feel a little pinch.” 

Kari tightened her grip as Ruby instinctively thrashed before the hot metal even touched her skin, screaming through the leather like a gagged prisoner. 

“Hold her down!” 

“I’m  _trying_!” 

Suddenly, pain, white-hot and searing, flashed across her hand, and the thrashing stopped for a moment while adrenaline took over. 

It never lasted long.

“Let go! Let go!” she screeched, able to feel her elbows bruising Kari’s face and ribs but unable to stop. 

“Ruby! Stop; it’s done!” 

She opened her eyes and Leora wiped away the sweat that was rolling into them with a sponge. Ruby gave her a questioning look, not sure if she could believe it or if that were just a trick to get her to be still. 

“I’m really done,” Leora promised. “It’s cooling already.” Ruby turned around weakly in Kari’s grip and watched her rub a blossoming bruise on her jaw. 

“M’s’rry,” she muttered, but Kari shook her head. 

“You can’t help it,” she said, forcing a smile. “When you feel like you can move, we’ll get you to bed. But until then, we can sit here.” 

Ruby never let Kari touch her outside of these moments. Whether that was out of awkwardness or a crush or simple Pavlovian conditioned fear, she wasn’t sure, but she and Kari never so much as hugged or bumped fists. 

Except these moments. 

In these moments, Ruby let herself close her eyes against Kari stroking her hair, massaging feather-light circles in her back, just breathing softly enough to push her up and down imperceptibly with every inhale. 

“No rush?” Ruby asked, and Kari squeezed her good hand. 

“I don’t have anywhere to be if you don’t,” she smiled, genuinely this time, but much more exhausted. 

Ruby nodded and shut her eyes. 


End file.
